Cold weather greatly increases the rate at which our bodies lose heat to their surroundings. It is a well-known fact that when you get cold your body's extremities lose heat and circulation first. Our bodies conserve the temperature at the center by reducing the blood flow to the arms and legs. In effect, the critical central temperature of our torsos, which contain all of our vital organs, is maintained at the expense of the extremities.
Therefore, it is vital to keep the extremities of a wearer warm in order to avoid a drop in body temperature in cold weather (for our purposes, only hand-wear covering the fingers will be discussed). Hand-wear, in the form of gloves and mittens, have long been the choice of wear in cold weather. Although different portions of a hand do not need the same level of insulation in all areas, traditional winter hand-wear utilizes a uniform density insulation lining to keep the users' hands warm. Consequently, traditional hand-wear tends to be more bulky, less dexterous, which can cause fatigue to the user's hand. Moreover, certain portions of a hand can be overheated.
Notwithstanding the advances in the fabrics and insulating liners used in their manufacture, the increase in the cold insulation properties have generally come at the expense of loss of tactile sensation through the garment and/or increased overall bulkiness and loss of comfort for the wearer. It is an on-going struggle to balance the hand-wear's warmth-retaining qualities with the loss of dexterity because of increased insulation. There is generally a compromise between the desire to maintain warmth in cold weather conditions, and the desire to provide as much tactile sensation as possible through the hand-wear.
Accordingly, there continues to exist a need to provide for superior cold weather comfort (warmth), while at the same time preserving the integrity of the cold weather hand-wear and maximizing dexterity through such hand-wear. The present invention provides such an article of apparel including hand-wear.